


The Chariot, The Lovers, The Sun

by mataglap



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: ALL THE SPOILERS, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Corporate Life Path V, Discussions of Suicide, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Netrunner V, Nomad Ending, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Spoilers, ending spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28251834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mataglap/pseuds/mataglap
Summary: V listens to voicemail after The End. It's all fine until he gets to Takemura's message, and suddenly nothing is fine anymore.Huge, extensive spoilers for the game and one of its endings.
Relationships: Goro Takemura/Male V, Goro Takemura/V
Comments: 30
Kudos: 231





	The Chariot, The Lovers, The Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Turn away right now if you don't want the game spoiled for you.
> 
> If you've already played the game to the end of the story, and finished it through the nomad path, and got the voicemail from Takemura, and went to AO3 to mend your broken heart: this is for you.

V catches up with voicemail on the roof of a ruined gas station store, jacked into an old antenna and listening to white noise.

It's too quiet in the Badlands. Especially at night. It's impossible to fall asleep in this ringing, suffocating silence. Feels as if someone cut off all the audio feeds. The white noise from the idle antenna helps, proves there's nothing wrong with his ears or his sound processing, it's just that he's spent his whole life listening to the chaotic heartbeat of the city. He had no idea that absence of sound could be so _loud_.

It's only been two days, and the messages already feel like from another life. Rogue doesn't know Johnny's gone. Judy doesn't know he's leaving Night City. He saves both messages and doesn't reply to either. The phone stays on passive for as long as Arasaka 'runners keep combing the Net for him, or Alt, or the constructs she sucked out of Mikoshi. They didn't just kick the hornets' nest, they set it on fire and pissed on the ashes, and V's got enough deaths on his conscience already.

The last message is from Takemura.

At first he's just happy Goro's alive. He's been trying not to think about what the silence might have meant. Goro must have been out of the tower, out of Yorinobu's reach. Maybe he wasn't even in the city; maybe Hanako had him stashed somewhere else in a parody of witness protection. Knowing he's all right is so much of a relief that the words stop registering for a while, and he has to pause, take a deep breath, exhale, and rewind the message to the beginning.

The relief doesn't last long. Leave it to the dramatic asshole to talk about ritual suicide, Jesus. And before V's even finished sitting up straight, hastily pulling up the holo interface because _what the fuck_ , the voicemail ends with Goro telling him to rot in hell. He doesn't bother with the translator for the Japanese part; the intention behind the words is clear enough. It brings up a memory of Goro's previous little outburst — _GO FUCK YOURSELF_ — but this time it's not funny at all.

Goro doesn't pick up. Not surprising. What's important is that the call goes through at all, which means V hasn't been blocked yet. Sure, he could lift the block in ten realtime seconds if he wanted to, but that's beside the point.

Then again, if Goro's implants are still offline, and they probably are, he's stuck with a physical phone and its primitive interface. Maybe he hasn't figured out yet how to block callers.

Or he really did commit fucking seppuku. Anybody else, V would just assume they were fucking around, but it's so very _Goro_ that he breaks out in cold sweat.

The call drops to voicemail just as he starts thinking he might barf. "Hey," he says, quietly, because the town is dead and the sound carries for miles, and he doesn't need the others waking up and asking questions. "Good to hear you, Goro. Feel free to hate me, but cut it out with this seppuku crap, okay? You want a reason to live? I'm sending you my coords. I'll stay here for a couple of days. Come and gut me instead, or I dunno, chop my head off, or whatever the fuck your stupid honor code tells you."

He pauses and listens for a while, but nobody stirs in the rooms below. The guards huddled at the edge of the camp are well out of earshot. Good. Panam would rip him a new one if she heard any of this.

And there goes the nosebleed again. Stupid fucking Takemura.

"You really let Arasaka brainwash you that much?" He has to stick a tissue under his nose and tip his head back, and it makes his voice weirdly nasal, but it's that or dripping red all over himself. "It's twenty-first century, Goro, they're your employers, not your family, they don't give half a shit about you. You're an asset. A long depreciated corporate asset, written down in expenses at the end of the quarter. I know, I used to work for Arasaka counter-intel, I ever tell you that? Sometimes it's cheaper to just cut your losses."

The voicemail prompt blinks patiently, waiting for more input, but V's got nothing. He's not going to break into tearful confessions. He'd hang up, but honestly, he's afraid that he still hasn't said enough, that he's only got this one chance to talk Goro out of his bullshit and he's fucking it up.

Got to finish with something extra rage-inducing, and suddenly he's got just the thing. "Oh yeah, and suicide is for cowards," he says in that particular tone, the V Special he's been told makes people want to punch him in the face, and there. That should hopefully piss Goro off enough.

He sighs and cautiously checks the stained tissue. Not too bad. At least it's not a fucking fountain this time. Counts as an improvement.

…That voicemail was almost three hours old. He could have been talking to a corpse this entire time. With a sword in his guts, Jesus Christ.

He cuts the link. Unplugs from the antenna, too. No sleeping is going to happen tonight. What's one more sleepless night when your brain is slowly turning into a sponge?

* * *

With Saul gone, V is shaping up to be his successor in shouting matches with Panam.

She's not happy with his decision, and even less with his refusal to explain why he's staying behind for a while. There's name-calling and hand-waving and a lot of threats of bodily harm, and it takes a good twenty minutes of back and forth until Carol and Mitch stage an intervention. At least the rest get some free entertainment while packing up the camp.

V wins in the end, because not even Panam can out-stubborn him, and he's got an ace up his sleeve. Can't say no to a guy with a few months left to live, right? He can't quite get a nosebleed on demand yet, but he can produce a very convincing wet cough. Perfectly executed emotional manipulation. Johnny would be ecstatic.

Then he's alone in a windswept ruin of a town with absolutely nothing to do, just him and Claire's Beast, and most of his earthly possessions crammed into her trunk.

He hops onto the hood, makes himself comfortable and scrolls through the messages again. Since the decision to stay on passive already went to shit, he could, theoretically, reply to at least a few. Misty, Mama Welles, Viktor, Judy, River, even Kerry — he never realized so many people gave a damn, was too busy chasing the promise of salvation to stop and look over his shoulder. It gives him the warm fuzzies and makes him feel guilty at the same time.

Nah. Still not safe. Anyone with any kind of connection to him has a big flashing target on their back right now.

Well, he could maybe reply to Rogue, at least. Let her know Johnny went on to _actual_ afterlife, give her some closure. She survived an open assault at the Arasaka Tower, she won't bat an eyelid at a couple of goons. She can fend for herself better than anyone else on V's contact list, V himself included.

Can she, though? How many of Arasaka's unlimited supply of goons would it take to storm Afterlife and take her out?

Maybe in a few days, then. After the shitstorm dies down a little. Assuming Goro doesn't arrive earlier to put a bullet in his head.

…And just like that, before he knows it, he's calling Goro again.

Funny how he knows exactly what Johnny would do and say right now. He'd sit on the roof of the car, flickering to the rhythm of V's pulse, and drag on his imaginary cigarette. _Let me guess,_ he'd drawl. _You're gonna waste time on that 'Saka scum. Again._

And he'd probably be right about wasting time. Goro's most likely just another corpse on the trail of death V's left behind him. All of that just to delay the sentence by a couple of useless months.

The call drops to voicemail before he manages to talk himself into disconnecting. Might as well go on, get it off his chest, on the off chance Goro's alive and willing to listen.

He sighs and leans against the windshield. "Hey, Goro. Just wanted to say I'm sorry for bailing out on you. I ran out of time and started dying for real. Could've bartered with Arasaka for my life, or could've fought for it and if I died, then at least I would've died on my own fucking terms. Took option two. Guess even us mercs have some sort of pride."

That, and Johnny throwing a tantrum and threatening to take over, but something tells him that's not gonna fly with Goro.

"Don't know how important she was to you, but… I'm sorry about Hanako, too." And he kind of is: she was as much of a scheming snake as her father, but she didn't deserve to die at the orders of her own fucking brother. "I'm guessing Yorinobu took advantage of the chaos to clean up the old guard. If it makes you feel better, she knew who offed their father all along. Only decided to do something when she realized she was in danger, too. Don't believe me? Say a word and I'll send you a recording of our meeting. Or actually, hold on, I'm gonna send it right now."

It occurs to him a bit too late that his archiving subsystem could have already shut down at that point, but no, the file's there, uncorrupted. One of the last intact recordings before the Relic spiraled out of control. "I know you're all about honor and loyalty and all that stuff," he continues, watching the slow climb of the upload bar, "but you have to realize it has to be mutual to work. You became inconvenient, they threw you out like trash. You don't owe them anything. Nobody at Arasaka is worth a drop of your blood."

The upload finishes, and V just kind of… sits there, in the middle of a dead, dust-covered town, breathing into Goro's voicemail like a creep — and he's never going to be able to think the word 'creep' again without hearing it in Johnny's obnoxious, flat voice.

"You know, there were some things we never agreed on with Johnny," he says slowly. "You, for example. He kept calling you an 'Arasaka dog'. Obedient, loyal to its master, acts only on command, you get the idea. I always took your side, 'cause I _know_ you're more than that. You're the kid from Chiba-11 who washed his shirt in fucking toxic sewage because he wanted more from life. So do me a favor and don't prove Johnny right, okay?"

Silence. Goro's portrait glares at him from the HUD until he finally disconnects the call, feeling a bit stupid already.

_Nice pep talk you just gave to your soon-to-be killer._

It's really starting to look like Johnny left him with a case of split personality or something. Like some part of him remained even after Alt pulled him out, burned forever into V's brain to provide running thought commentary for… the next six months or so. 

But whatever it is, it did bring up the issue V's been doing his best to ignore, which is that the whole gambit with Goro might have been a mistake. If he's alive, if the seppuku thing was a metaphor that flew over V's head or if the voicemail arrived in time, if he takes the bait and comes here — there's no way V can fight him.

He thinks about it. Pulls out Johnny's pistol and aims down the street, between imaginary pale chrome eyes. Nope. Even that feels wrong. Just not gonna happen.

And that's assuming he'd even get a chance to. Funny how Goro's defunct implants make him a lot more dangerous to V, specifically. What can a netrunner do against someone whose implants they can't hack, and who is strong, fast, experienced and determined to zero them? Nothing, that's what. He should delta the fuck out of here and make sure he doesn't leave a trail leading to the Aldecaldos.

 _Oh, but you won't leave_ , _because you're too dumb to know when to quit_.

That's probably true, too. Both parts. Johnny was a raging asshole, but he was rarely _completely_ wrong.

V, the best merc in Night City, the man who came back from the dead, who brought Arasaka to its knees and lived, kind of — dying three days later at the hands of his unfortunate crush. Hilarious. At least Johnny never figured it out, somehow, and not for lack of clues either. Was probably too blinded by hate to notice. Unless he did and in a rare bout of considerateness decided not to mention it — but no, no way, V would've never heard the end of it, not even after Johnny'd mellowed out a bit. _'Saka dog_ this, _'Saka scum_ that. Almost a shame he's gone. He'd have a field day now.

Come on, Goro. Don't be fucking dead.

He's probably been talking to a corpse this entire time. One ticket to five stages of grief, coming right up. Should buy a season pass at this point.

_Boo-fucking-hoo. You wrapping up the pity party anytime soon?_

Definitely split personality. Useful, though. If he's waiting for Goro, then he probably shouldn't space out in the middle of the street, just to die to some random Wraith that might happen to roll through the place.

He makes himself a cozy sniper nest in one of the houses that still have a stable roof, gets a few cameras going in key spots, hooks the feeds up to an analyzer, sets up motion alerts. Drinks, eats, pops the pills. Lies down on an ancient mattress with some rags thrown on top. It's still too quiet, but the wind is picking up and the camera feed analyzer generates a faint thread of white noise, just enough to finally convince his brain it's okay to sleep.

* * *

The messages wait for him when he wakes up.

_Once again I have allowed my temper to get the better of me._  
_I understand that you did what was necessary to save your life._

And another one:

_My anger was misplaced, and for that I apologize._

"Are you fucking serious," he says out loud, awake in an instant because holy hell, not only Goro's alive, but murder is apparently also off the table. The message was sent not even half an hour ago, and it's late afternoon. Should be safe to call. Except he has no idea what to say, and there's a risk he'll start laughing or something, so he should probably wait until he's firing on all cylinders — but then it occurs to him that Goro never commented on the whole seppuku thing.

Fuck it. Worst case he'll have a little fit of hysterics over the phone.

Goro picks up after maybe ten seconds. "V," he says simply.

"Goro," he replies. Deep breaths. Think of the face Johnny would make right now. "You scared me half to death, asshole."

Silence, then a sigh. "I was not in my right mind."

" _Please_ tell me you're not planning to zero yourself."

"I am not."

"Jesus Christ," he mutters, sagging in his nest of rags, numb with relief all over again. "You coming over here to chop my head off, then?"

There's a long, guilty silence.

"Oookay then —"

"I am not," Goro cuts in. "But I must admit that it was my initial plan."

Johnny must have left some crossed neurons behind, because somehow this calms him down. "Changed your mind?" he asks, sitting up straighter and looking around for the water bottle and the pills. A headache is spinning up behind his eyes, and a nosebleed is going to follow shortly. There's comfort in knowing the pattern.

"I did. Fortunately, I listened to your further messages. I had time to consider them while it transit."

"Well. Glad they worked, then. You absolutely sure you don't want to off me anymore?"

"V," Goro says, heavy with reproach.

"Alright, alright."

For a moment he thinks Goro disconnected, but no, there's a cacophony of city noise in the background: cars, sirens, ads, someone's even shouting to complete the soundtrack. Goro's probably standing in the middle of the sidewalk, arms crossed, legs wide, implacable as usual, glaring at the crowd as it parts around him like water around a stone.

Heh. How fucked up is it to miss someone who just admitted to planning to kill you?

"I was —"

"Are you —"

They both start talking at the same time and both pause, waiting for the other to continue, and suddenly everything is awkward. "How are you doing?" he asks when it becomes clear Goro clammed up for good. "Can you talk now?"

"My situation is… difficult. I should move to a more secluded place before discussing it further."

"You got anywhere to stay?"

"I will have to find a _motel._ " The amount of disgust Goro manages to load the word with is both admirable and relatable. "I was foolish to spend most of my money on travel."

"Sorry about that. Not sorry about the end result, though."

"That is understandable."

Silence again. Goro almost sounded like he _smiled_ there, and that would be a first, and it's probably why it takes V so long to come up with the obvious solution. "You can crash at my place instead," he says finally. "I think I left it, uh, clean…ish? I wasn't really in a state to tidy up."

"V, I could not intrude —"

"Not intruding. I left the city, remember? I'm still at the coords I gave you. And I'm not going back, not anytime soon anyway."

Goro takes a while to digest the information, long enough for V to crawl out of the nest, pop the pills, chase them with water and peek blearily through the dusty blinds. "I appreciate your offer and thank you for your hospitality," he says finally, so stiff and formal that V's hand itches with the impulse to clap him on the back.

"Megabuilding H10. Technically it's Little China, but Kabuki starts right across the street. Unit 0720. There's no number on the door, so look for a graffiti of a guy with a white dog. I'll message you the code. Just be careful, all right? Intrusion detection says all green, but someone could be watching the place from the outside."

"I am always careful."

"Right. The fox is cautious, cherry blossoms, yadda yadda."

"I may still reconsider my earlier plan, V."

"Sure, sure." Probably not the best idea to poke Goro's famous temper again, but that was almost definitely a joke, and there's something thrilling in letting him into V's place. Even if he's going to hate it. Actually, maybe because of that. Goro loves to complain about everything Night City, and he's more fun to listen to than what passes for comedy on the radio.

He checks the cameras for one last time after hanging up, then disables most of his unit's surveillance system. To give Goro privacy, sure, but if living with Johnny in his head taught him anything, it's to be honest with himself… and really, it's all about avoiding the temptation.

* * *

Goro's got surprisingly few complaints about V's place. Even compliments the layout (efficient) and the view (not awful). Getting catapulted to the bottom of the food chain must have finally lowered his standards. They have another quick chat before he disconnects to catch up on sleep, and yeah, the man's deep in shit. Back to square one, except now that Hanako's dead, his only way back into Arasaka's nurturing bosom is gone. His chrome is dead weight, he's got no eddies, no place to live, no contacts to lean on.

Pretty much the situation V had been in after the Abernathy fiasco. Except Goro's a stranger in this city, he doesn't have Jackie to stand up for him or Viktor to front him 20k worth of new chrome, or Mama Welles to take him in until he gets back on his feet.

He does have V, though. And after he confirms his implants are still dead, V knows exactly what to do.

It's not the first time he's gotten the idea, either. He'd thought about Goro the moment he realized what the gadget he'd recovered for Wakako could do. It felt too risky back then and he had more immediate concerns, like his rapidly approaching expiration date, but now, assuming Wakako hasn't pawned the thing off yet — and she's way too smart to do that — there's a decent chance they can get Goro's chrome back up and running. 

The biggest risk is relying on Wakako's goodwill. She has no reason to backstab him, she knows any gig sent his way is as good as done, but is having the city's best merc on speed dial worth enough to her to risk the wrath of Arasaka? Especially if she already knows that V is skipping town?

It _can_ work, though. If it does, Goro's chances will go from somewhere around nil to pretty fucking good. And that's the real scary thing about V's plan: if everything works out, it'll be a happy end straight out of old movies, riding off into the setting sun included, and happy endings don't exist in real life. 

_But you're still gonna try, aren't you._

"Yep," he says out loud, pulling up his accounts and the holo interface. He's dying. He's allowed to talk to himself, especially in the middle of a ghost town.

* * *

Wakako held on to the gadget. No surprises there. She's going to get so much more mileage out of selling corporate escapees a second chance at life.

She remembers Takemura, too. V would have preferred she didn't, but forgetful people don't become fixers. He doesn't like the knowing tone of her voice, either; it means he's failed to downplay how invested he is in the whole thing. That, or the old witch has a sixth sense and a military grade gaydar.

He negotiates the price down a bit, mostly to avoid raising more suspicion, because he'd pay what she's asking and more. It's an eye-watering sum of money, even for someone with three well padded accounts, but it's not as if V has better things to spend his eddies on when he's supposed to flatline in a couple of months. That, at least, Wakako doesn't seem aware of, thank God, or all of his bargaining power would go to shit.

A heavily encrypted message arrives not long after: date, time, address. So far, so good. Could be a trap, of course, but Goro doesn't really have any better options, and when push comes to shove, he can still fight well enough. Like he did when Arasaka hit the apartment he held Hanako in. The memory's burned into V's mind like a a prime quality virtu: the taste of blood and fear in his mouth, the fury and hope when the shooting upstairs did not stop. Johnny shouting something that did not register, probably more of his _Arasaka scum_ bullshit. Cutting through the soldiers in his path like a cyberpsycho, leaving broken necks and popped heads behind, anything to reach Goro before it was too late.

And he did. Got yelled at for it, too, and was fucking ecstatic about it.

So, yeah. Goro may be crippled, but he's far from harmless. Wakako would have to send a whole squad of Claws to take him out. Hopefully she's factored that into her calculations.

Of course, there's one thing V himself failed to account for, and that's Goro being a stubborn asshole.

"Surely you must see that this is a trap of some sort," Goro says sharply. "I will not be lured so easily by false promises."

It's good to see him showered and rested for once, even if he's making V want to rip his fucking hair out. "I'm _telling_ you, the tech is real," he says as calmly as he can. "I held it in my own hands. It works."

Goro keeps glaring at the camera like he's mortally offended by the offer. "If it does, then it is not something a woman such as her would give away willingly."

"Who said anything about giving it away? I've worked with Wakako for years, we cut a deal."

Goro somehow manages to stiffen even more. "You made a _deal_ ," he repeats.

"Yeah. A deal. It's all agreed and paid for. Well, half of it, in advance. All you need to do is show up."

"Then I would be indebted to you, instead."

"No you won't." He doesn't need to pull up a monitor to know his blood pressure is rising, he can feel it in his temples. A nosebleed might actually be useful right now. "First of all, it's probably my fault you didn't get your job back. I'm just trying to make up for it. And even if I hadn't fucked up your chances, help in need is what friends are for, right?"

Goro's eyebrows go up. "Friends," he repeats like he's never heard the word before.

Well. That kinda stings.

A lot, actually. But Goro has been pretty clear about where he stands, hasn't he? He's friends with people like Oda, and V's just a merc with useful skills and, how did he phrase it? _A mind of a thief_. At least he's honest about it. They probably didn't teach subtlety at the Arasaka School for Child Soldiers.

Ugh. It's too easy to imagine Johnny laughing his ass off in the corner of the room.

"Alright, let me rephrase," he says through his teeth. " _I_ consider _you_ a friend — no, shut up, I'm talking. The appointment is tomorrow, I'm sending you the detes. Show up or don't, I don't fucking care, it's your chrome. You'd rather die in a ditch than accept my help, be my guest."

He disconnects before Goro can reply. Okay, so maybe he's raised his voice a little, gotten a bit emotional over nothing. Oh well. He's not bleeding, that's already a win, and it really doesn't matter if Goro sees him as a friend if they're not going to see each other again, does it?

Which reminds him that he's stayed in one place for way too long. Time to get a move on. Check the forecast in case another storm is coming, message Panam, ask for coords, let her know he's finally on his way. Change encryption keys first, just to stay on the safe side.

And last but not least, let go of the past and focus on what's ahead. What was it that Misty pulled? The Chariot, the Lovers, the Sun? Supposedly meaning he's got a good life ahead of him, whole six months of it, that is. Well, he's about ready for that good life to start.

_Come on, V, we both know you don't believe in that tarot bullshit._

* * *

Even with the extra detours to lose any potential tails, he makes a good distance that day. The migraine doesn't come until he's stopped for the night. No ruined towns this time, just a lonely skeleton of a house in a thicket of bushes and a few withered trees. It's not even worth leaving the car for. Beast's passenger seat makes for a comfier and safer bed than anything in that house.

He drives into what's left of the garage, to hide from satellites, AVs and stray drifters, and manages to set up a few proximity sensors along the road before the nausea becomes too much.

It's not as bad as it was the first day, but as he lies in the car, listening to the rattle of air conditioning and waiting for the meds to kick in, he starts wondering if he made the right choice. He doesn't need Johnny's imagined commentary to know it's a stupid train of thought to get on, so he thinks about what Goro might be up to, instead. It's safer, to an extent. The convo they had earlier still blows, but in this case the headache is actually useful: it's hard to keep focused on anything for long in this state, good or bad.

Goro looked damn good after he cleaned up, though. Hair washed, beard trimmed, shirt only partially buttoned, all that top-shelf chrome on display. Must have been one scary motherfucker with all of it online. Well, of course he was: Saburo's personal bodyguard had to be the best of the best. He's probably more metal than organic by now. A prime candidate for cyberpsychosis, Regina would drool at the sight.

Except it's laughable to imagine Goro as a cyberpsycho. He's way too… _himself_ for it. Too collected. Too pragmatic. Hopefully pragmatic enough to go get his implants rewired, no matter how much he might hate owing Wakako or V.

Wakako will definitely offer him a job afterwards. She wouldn't have remembered him so keenly if he hadn't left an impression. Not the worst place to land in in Goro's situation. She's a mean old spider, but she keeps her word and knows a job well done when she sees it. Goro will get his bearings eventually, maybe even get used to the City. Maybe he'll take V's place as the top merc. He's badass enough even without the chrome. 

V's got a better sense of humor, though.

He drifts off thinking back to their first encounter, or what he remembers of it, which isn't much. A string of fragmented memories, flashes he picked up here and there while Johnny's construct tried its damndest to take over. Sights, smells, noises. The stink of the trash heap. The flare of helpless hate at the sound of DeShawn's voice. The color of the sash Goro wore, stylish red on black. The coppery smell of blood. The Troy assassin's impassive red stare.

Goro, wounded and driving like the devil himself, one hand on the wheel, the other stemming the blood flow. He'd make a good street racer. Or a nomad.

_You wish._

* * *

Something keeps him at the ruined house the next day. Or, well, not something. He knows very well what it is. Not even half an hour passes after he wakes up before he caves in, sets up an extra layer of ICE, jumps through three proxies and hacks into the police surveillance network near the address from Wakako's message. He's not surprised to discover that of all the cameras in the area, only one has the place in its cone, and it's dead. He could turn on the cameras back at his own place, check if Goro at least left the building… but he's not enough of an asshole to do it. Not even after exposure to Johnny.

The hour of the appointment comes, then goes. V keeps himself occupied by adding Goro's face to the masking algorithm he snuck into H10's subnet after moving in, just in case he decides to stay longer. Maybe he's getting his implants back right now. Maybe it's already done. Maybe he never went there to begin with. Pride isn't something he can afford in his position, not in Night City, but he definitely never got the memo.

_He's a big boy. He'll manage._

Yeah. He will. And Panam keeps sending increasingly pissy messages asking how much longer he's going to take. The family's waiting, loaded with stolen tech, and both Arasaka and Militech are out for Aldecaldo blood right now. Time to unplug, pack up and go.

The message icon flashes at him again as he loads the gear back into the car, and he almost ignores it, because yes, he's coming, for fuck's sake, no need to ping him about it every half an hour — but he does owe Panam big, so he opens the message with a sigh, and freezes with his hands on the lid of the trunk.

It's from Goro. Two words.

_Thank you._

Just that — but as he hesitates, because a 'thank you' can mean a lot of things, another message comes in. A screenshot of system diagnostics. The list of hardware is almost twice as long as V's, and it's mostly in Japanese, but green across the board is a pretty universal message.

"Fuck _yes_!" he shouts, slamming the trunk with both palms. It's not quite enough, so he does it again, and then he runs out of the garage and does a flailing dance on the spot, yelling at the sky like a madman, because not only did Goro listen to fucking reason in the end, but Wakako's gadget actually _worked_.

There's nothing Goro can't do with that sort of hardware. The world's his oyster. Assuming he doesn't get it into his head to fly to Tokyo and single-handedly storm Yorinobu's HQ, Johnny-style. That would be the most awful kind of ironic possible.

Great. V doesn't even need Johnny to piss on his parade anymore, he can do it all by himself.

He sends Wakako the remaining payment, down to the last eddy, and only just manages to stop himself from adding a grateful message; telling a fixer you owe them is never a good idea, and especially when it's Wakako. He thinks of calling Goro, decides it's a bad idea, changes his mind, then changes it again. In the end, he settles on a reply as simple as the message was.

_No problem._

And, well. Guess that's it. Actually, there's one more thing.

_You can stay at my place for as long as you want._

He adds 'bye', then deletes it. Whatever. Time to go.

* * *

It's a good thing the Badlands are a mostly flat stretch of mostly nothing, because he nearly loses control of the car when a call from Goro pops up on the HUD a couple hours later.

"Where are you?" Goro demands immediately after he picks up.

"Hey." V does his best not to let the grin bleed through. Fuck, he's got it bad. "In the Badlands. Why?"

"I know that much. Where are you _exactly_?"

He's about to send the coordinates when his brain finally takes over. "Gotta know why you're asking first," he says. "I've decided I like my head where it is."

"This is not a time for jokes, V."

"Hey, I'm dead serious. You wanted to murder me what, two days ago?"

Goro sighs irritably. "I am at the coordinates you sent me. I assume you left, unless you are very good at hiding."

Why the hell did he come all the way over to the Badlands? And how?

"I'll have you know I'm _excellent_ at hiding," he says, stalling for time, because the head thing was a joke, but maybe it's not anymore. Did something go wrong during the procedure? If Goro actually went psycho…

" _Please_ be serious for a while. I simply need to talk to you in person."

He sounds earnest enough and not bloodthirsty at all. V imagines him standing in the middle of that ghost town, looking around with a frown, and then he remembers: Goro's optics are back online. He can actually run a proper scan now, for the first time since they met at the site of V's trashy resurrection.

His foot slips off the gas pretty much on its own. Goddammit. "Fine. Sending you the new coords. There's a hill nearby, I'll be there. But I'm warning you, if you do try to kill me, I'm going to be pissed."

"Do not leave before I get there."

"I said — aaaand you're gone. Asshole," he mutters, slowing down even more, easing Beast off the road, towards the hill.

The place barely deserves to be called a hill, really. Just a small rise in terrain that's otherwise flat as far as the eye can see. It's like loading a virtu on shitty hardware and waiting for assets to pop in, except nothing pops in, there's just dirt, grass, bushes and transmission towers along the dusty road. That, and a whole lot of empty blue sky, which is going to take some serious getting used to.

It's risky as hell to sit here alone. Beast blends with the bushes well enough, parked at the foot of the hill, but anyone who comes close is going to spot her, so he checks the guns and lays them out on the hood, under a piece of tarp, in case he needs to mount a one-man stand against a Wraith band or something. With nothing better left to do, he hides in the car, both from the emptiness and the sun, chews on a nutrition bar and starts planning that one-man stand, because why not. That's what he's got all the chrome and weapons for. The title of the best merc in Night City has to count for something. 

* * *

He knows it's Goro the moment the car appears on the horizon: sleek, red, low profile and completely useless in the Badlands.

Something about it is uncannily familiar, even though he's never been into cars. He steps out of Beast, leans against the hood and zooms in. Mizutani logo. Nope, still doesn't ring a bell — but then the scanner identifies it as a Shion MZ2, and he finally remembers. _Shion_. It was the first thing he'd noticed after waking up in Goro's car, the word displayed on the dashboard right in front of him, and he'd fixated on it, head swimming, until Goro growled something and pushed a booster into his limp hand.

Can't be the same car, Goro totaled that one to get rid of the last assassin. Hell of a déjà vu, though.

The car drifts to a stop with a squeal of tires. Good to know Goro still drives like a coked out street racer when he's not running from a corporate extermination unit. V almost expects to see him in that black suit with the red sash again, just to complete the scene, but nope. White shirt and black slacks as usual, except he's rolled up his sleeves and left the armored coat somewhere, which makes sense, because he'd cook in it in five minutes tops… 

…Holy shit.

It's as if someone's suddenly decrypted a hidden compartment in his brain. He's completely forgotten the first time he saw Takemura. It wasn't at the trash heap. It was at Konpeki Plaza, with Jackie still alive, both of them crammed into a hidden cubby while Saburo's bodyguard scanned the room. That was Goro still in full control of his chrome, stalking around like a predator, graceful and dangerous as fuck. V had broken into cold sweat when the bodyguard paused right in front of him, eyes glowing red with an active scan, a hair's breadth from discovering them both; he was certain for a second that was it, that he was going to die there. Only Saburo's hubris saved him. Doomed Goro at the same time, too.

The Goro he met later was still dangerous, sure, but he moved with the angry, weary determination of an old soldier, always slightly hunched, as if carrying an invisible weight. V never realized just how much the loss of implants had crippled him. Should have, in hindsight. Not only he'd lost something like half the functionality of both his limbs and his senses, but the defunct chrome became nothing but a mass of metal. Of course it was going to weigh him down.

On a rational level, V always knew Goro was a killing machine, but now he can actually _see_ it, in the way he moves and the aura of cold confidence he's projecting once again. It makes a _world_ of difference. And those fucking rolled up sleeves, skin of both forearms threaded with thin lines of implant seams — mantis blades, maybe, or something more refined, but either way leagues above cheap mass market stuff — Goro had never rolled up his sleeves before, and it's a stupid detail to fixate on, but he can't tear his eyes away until Goro stops in front of him.

Even Johnny's memory doesn't have anything useful to say, right when he needs it the most.

He pushes away from the hood. "Glad to see you back on your feet, Goro," he says, and he means it, because he never realized just how much Arasaka had screwed this man over.

Goro does this thing again where he stares V down, even though they're pretty much equal height. "I came here to thank you in person," he says. "It is not something that can be done over the phone."

"Aw, come on." He pauses, because he can't really say 'it's nothing'; it's not, it's pretty damn big, and Goro might even take offense.

Goro actually _bows_ : short, precise, respectful. Old muscle memory kicks in and V very nearly bows back, but that would probably defeat the purpose. "That's really not necessary," he says instead, pretty sure he's blushing like a gonk, because he would have never expected this, not in a million years.

"Thank you," Goro says gravely after straightening up. "You have done me a great and undeserved kindness."

"It's — You're welcome." Now his ears are definitely burning. _Smooth._ "Nothing undeserved about it."

"I have to disagree. Our partnership was born out of necessity —"

Oh for fuck's sake. "This about not being friends again? Can you not ruin the moment just yet?"

"Allow me to finish," Goro says serenely.

Okay. Fine. He shuts up, but he does fold his arms, because it's been an emotional ride already and he's not ready for the dive, especially that he's been fighting the urge to just hug the shit out of the man for the last thirty seconds.

Goro nods, satisfied. "Our partnership was born out of necessity," he intones again, "and I was angry and resentful. I did not always treat you with the respect you deserved. And after… recent events, in my grief, I misjudged you again."

That's… uncomfortably earnest, and the only response that comes to mind is 'shit happens', which is a really inadequate thing to say when Goro Takemura is being earnest at you.

"I was surprised to learn that despite everything you would consider me a friend, and I am honored."

Only Goro could deliver a speech like this in the middle of the fucking Badlands — and now he's kind of smiling, a little. It has exactly as much impact as V had imagined.

"I, uh. I'm honored too." And fucking starstruck. And grinning uncontrollably, apparently.

"It seems your capacity for forgiveness is much deeper than mine."

He spreads his hands. "That's me," he says, and because Goro looks like he's ready to drill the subject forever, he steps forward and clasps him on the shoulder like he's always wanted to, just like Goro did back at Vik's clinic. The shoulder under his hand is warm and solid like granite. Goro doesn't look offended, surprised, maybe, so V does what he does best, which is taking stupid unnecessary risks.

He hugs Goro hard. It's a bit like hugging a statue, except the statue unexpectedly hugs him back after two seconds, and gives him a good pat on the back before he steps away again.

"Really glad we both made it out," he says. He doesn't fight the stupid smile, it's a lost cause, especially that Goro doesn't look like he minded having his personal space violated. Quite the opposite, he seems to be in a good mood, which is a look V really could get used to. "Well, sort of," he amends out of habit and regrets it immediately, but it's too late.

"Sort of?"

"Well. You're going to have to find a new job. And I'm —" and he remembers, a moment too late again, that Goro doesn't know anything. He'd backpedal, but Goro's eyes have already narrowed in suspicion.

"And you are _what_?"

He can't bring himself to lie to Goro's face. "That's kind of a longer story," he says instead.

Goro just folds his arms. "I am not in a rush," he says, right back to his old self: stubborn, demanding and intimidating as hell when he wants to be.

And… hell, why not. Might as well tell him. This is probably the last time they see each other anyway — and fuck, he's not ready for that thought. Not at all. He doesn't want to die, and he doesn't want to spend however many months he's got left without seeing Goro, especially now that he's whole again. He wants to see how much Goro's changed now. If that half-smile is going to be a frequent occurrence from now on. If he can actually laugh, because that's where V's imagination throws in the towel.

"V?"

"Okay," he sighs. "We can talk. But maybe get your car off the road first. It kinda stands out around here."

Goro looks back over his shoulder like he's forgotten how he arrived here. "Ah. It is not my car. I only borrowed it."

"Borrowed, huh." Knowing that Goro can hotwire cars is an instant mood boost, for some reason.

"Indeed. I have every intention to send it back," Goro says mildly. "This will only take a moment."

There's not much he can do with a bright red sports car in the middle of a wasteland, though. The thing's sitting so low, even pulling onto the nonexistent shoulder is going to leave marks. At least there's two of them now, Night City's top merc and probably the most dangerous of all the Arasaka soldiers. Together they should be able to deal with anything that isn't an AV or a sniper.

His mind stumbles over the word 'together', and he does his best not to dwell. Goro makes it easier just by existing; V could stand there all day just watching him move, now.

"Talk in the car?" he asks, nodding towards Beast. Goro stops and looks at her, and — "Did you just _scan my car_?"

"An old habit," Goro says somewhat sheepishly, heading towards the passenger door, and… well, that makes sense. How many years did he spend as Saburo's bodyguard? Half his life? More than that?

The white shirt and slacks looked out of place already, but Beast's cabin makes the contrast even stronger. Nomad utilitarianism versus corporate chic. V tries to imagine Goro in nomad threads, and his mind first trips over it, then completely grinds to a halt, because the image is scorching hot, that's a given, but he's thought about this already, hasn't he? The original plan. The one where they were supposed to ride off into the setting sun.

There's no reason it shouldn't work. Goro doesn't have any roots in the City. He admitted to wanting to try nomad life, once. He could just leave, right now, send the 'borrowed' car back and ride shotgun with V, join the nomads, build a new life, one where he won't get chewed up and spat out by a machine of corporate politics.

And V wants it so badly is physically aches, somewhere deep in his chest.

Goro turns in his seat and looks at him, eyes gleaming in the shade. Normally V would look away immediately and pretend nothing happened, that the eye contact was completely accidental, but he can't move, paralyzed by this sudden, outlandish idea. A few seconds pass, each about half a century long. Goro doesn't look away either. V had thought his unusual optics were just matte chrome, but no, that's not it. There's a name for this specific color. It's on the tip of his tongue. He struggles until a synapse finally fires somewhere, and he realizes it's because he's not looking for one word, but three: mother of pearl. That's the one.

And then he finally inhales after holding his breath for who knows how long, and it's so loud they both blink and look away at the same time.

"So what is this 'long story' you mentioned?" Goro asks, looking directly ahead, apparently unperturbed by the weird, charged staring contest they just had.

And V tells him the whole story, everything that happened after the meeting with Hanako, well, except for the tarot stuff, just so Goro doesn't start thinking he's lost a few marbles along the way. The fight with Militech, the drilling, the sneaking into the tower, Adam fucking Smasher, Mikoshi, Alt, the end.

"So I'm leaving with the Aldecaldos," he finishes, "because why the hell not." Saying it all out loud feels unexpectedly good, like getting a weight off his shoulders he didn't even know was there. "And that's why you don't owe me shit for your implants. I've got six months, tops. What am I going to spend the eddies on? Gas?"

Goro keeps staring into distance, but he's started frowning real hard. He doesn't look like he's happy about what he's just heard. He looks… kind of pissed, actually. V rewinds quickly: did he say something offensive? — but no, he's barely mentioned Hanako, that can't be it. "Autoimmune diseases can be cured," he says finally with a glance in V's direction. "I do not see why this one should be any different."

"Honestly, you're the last person I expected to care," V admits, genuinely surprised because, well, Goro has demonstrated many qualities so far, but compassion was never one of them. "And Alt sounded very sure when she said my body would basically eat itself."

Goro frowns even harder. "I apologize if I have been callous in the past. It was not my intention," he says. "And this AI, Alt, she originated from a netrunner, correct? I do not see why she should be an expert in medicine or human biology."

"I… huh. I guess I assumed she knew what she was talking about."

He jumps at the unexpected touch: Goro has turned towards him again and grasped his shoulder, just like he did back at Vik's clinic, except this time he's not letting go. "I am not an expert either. I do not wish to give you false hope," he says gravely. "But if I were you, I would consult a professional. Maybe more than one, just to be sure."

He gives V's shoulder one last, hard squeeze and lets go. V instantly feels bereft.

"Thanks. I will."

Sitting in silence is less awkward than he'd have expected. Actually, it's not awkward at all, somehow. It's just… quiet, in a good way. A bit like meditating. Just him, Goro, Beast, and miles and miles of nothing around them. And slowly ticking time, but for the first time in a very long while he's not afraid of it.

The fear is there somewhere, waiting for its turn. But Goro's silent presence is grounding. Solid. Like an anchor. Like he belongs in that seat. 

He wonders what Goro is thinking, and as if on cue, Goro sighs and tips his head back, against the headrest.

"Come with me." The words just fall out of his mouth on their own.

Goro turns his head. "What?"

Well, nothing to lose now. "Come with me," he repeats, doing his best not to let his voice waver as the fear catches up. "To the Aldecaldos. The nomads I'm with."

Goro looks away, and that faint half-smile makes an appearance again. "We have talked about this already, have we not? You cannot —"

"— teach an old dog new tricks, yeah, I remember. Bullshit." Goro keeps looking ahead, but V is hitting his groove now, he's all in, and he's going to talk until Goro either caves in or leaves. "What do you have to lose now? Ditch that car, ride with me, we'll reach the camp in a few hours. It's that simple."

"And what will your nomad friends say when you return in the company of an Arasaka soldier?"

"Probably something along the lines of 'Hey V, who's your hot new friend?' and I'll say, 'This is my choom Goro, he can pull his weight and then some, alright if he stays?' And they'll say —"

" _Hot friend_?" Goro interrupts in a distinctly amused tone.

Oh _shit_. He's still not looking at V, but at least he's not pissed, so maybe V's going to live another day.

Play it cool. _Play it cool_. "I mean, you are, objectively," he says quickly. " _Anyway_ , nobody's got a reason to say no if I vouch for you. You'll get a tent of your own, we'll get you some new threads, you can ride shotgun with me until you get your own ride. Two weeks, and you'll forget all about corporations."

_Alright. You almost got him. Don't screw it up now._

Seems like even Johnny's memory got on board with the idea somewhere along the way.

"And how will I obtain food and other necessary items?"

Goro's about to break, he can _feel_ it. "Work, same as everywhere else. Some scavenging, some trading, smuggling, convoy escorts, merc jobs. And this is a _real_ family that cares for their own, so a lot of stuff just gets shared around. We got our own fixer, our own ripperdoc, and a lot of smart and talented people. You won't lack for anything."

Silence.

"Come on, Goro. You said you thought about it before. You really happy with your current life?"

Goro hums. "Happy," he repeats contemplatively, as if he's heard the word for the first time and he's trying it on for size.

"Yeah, happy. I mean, I'm not saying nomad life is all sunshine and rainbows, but I'm pretty sure it's better than clawing your way up in Night City."

And that's it, he's said pretty much everything there was to say except for outright begging, so he shuts up and tries not to fidget. He doesn't need Johnny or his weird-ass imprint to tell him he's stupidly overinvested. In truth, he barely knows Goro, and he's been crushing hard for most of the time they've worked together, so he's not exactly unbiased here. Maybe Goro wouldn't fit in a nomad clan anyway. It's a far cry from the emperor's court he's used to.

"I need to think," Goro says suddenly, and he's out of the car before V manages to open his mouth.

That's fair. Means he's not going to say 'no' outright, which is already more than V dared to hope for… but Beast suddenly feels so empty that he has to turn on the radio in order not to freak out.

Goro stops some distance away from the car and assumes the classic bodyguard pose: legs wide, hands clasped behind his back. Still as a statue.

And now that he's not hyperfocused on convincing him, it occurs to V suddenly that he doesn't even know if the man has a family.

Now that he thinks of it, he's made a bunch of assumptions, hasn't he. Maybe Goro does have a home to go back to. Maybe he's a happily married father of four, who knows. Even the emperor's bodyguard has to have had _some_ personal life. He doesn't _seem_ happy, but what does V know. Maybe he's just stoic by nature. Plus he might become a whole lot happier now, with the implants back online.

…Then again, if he had a happy life back at home, he wouldn't have talked about suicide. Fuck. That's still not a closed topic. Screw doubts, V needs to get him on board, if only to get him drunk at a campfire one night and get that story out of him. It's hard to picture the always serious, solemn Goro under the influence, but V does have some material to work with. The yakitori stand. The accidental selfies. The _GO FUCK YOURSELF_. Hard not to smile at that one.

In his peripheral vision, Goro starts moving again.

Shit. He's not walking in the correct direction. V's entire body goes numb for a second with the adrenaline kick he always gets in fight-or-flight situations, except in this case neither is on the table, because all he can do is sit and watch, hands balled into fists, as Goro walks away from him and towards his stupid stolen Shion.

Goro reaches the car. The door opens, but he doesn't get inside, just reaches in for something — ah. His coat.

V's going to get a fucking heart attack here, any second now. Or suffocate on the breath he can't seem to stop holding.

Goro walks over to the trunk and pulls out a duffel bag. Takes a step back. Stands still for a moment, both bag and coat over his shoulder, then finally, _finally_ turns on his heel and starts walking back towards Beast. The Shion rolls slowly back onto the road, scraping the undercarriage on uneven terrain at least once, then takes off in the direction of Night City and its rightful owner. 

"Fucking hell," V says weakly, slumping in the seat. 

Goro makes a face like someone trying very hard not to laugh.

Right. He's got his optics back. Including _zoom_. Well, he should fire up thermal imaging too, then, just to see V's burning ears and face in all their humiliating glory. He's got Arasaka ICE and they aren't close enough chooms yet for V to get away with hacking his optics in retaliation, but one day. One day.

Goro marches right over to Beast's trunk, so V pops it open, rubs his face until both the redness and the smile go away, and gets out of the car.

"I assume I should wear something less… civilized," Goro says, eyeing his Aldecaldos jacket.

V leans against the trunk next to him. "You made me squirm on purpose, didn't you," he says, grinning again because fuck it, he's going to let himself be happy for one stupid moment.

"I did no such thing," Goro replies in a tone that implies he absolutely did. "Do you have any casual clothes I could borrow? We are of a similar size."

Don't think of him wearing your threads. Don't do it. "I mean, you got Arasaka chrome all over you," he says, nodding towards Goro's, well, entire upper body. "You can't change out of that."

"Still, it is prudent to think of the first impression."

And, yeah, the Aldecaldos are probably going to be _slightly_ less put out when he arrives with Goro _not_ dressed like a corporate drone, even though his brain is absolutely failing to picture him in anything more casual than this.

Then again, if he arrives wearing V's things… there might be some incorrect assumptions of a different kind. Which he shouldn't think about either, and definitely not now.

"Alright." He turns towards the trunk and pulls out the duffel with most of the clothes he's bothered to pack. "Browse away," he says, and he nearly bursts out laughing at the doubtful look Goro gives it. "Come on, I don't have cooties. It's all clean."

"I would prefer it if you picked something," Goro says with a pained expression.

Right. Goro's used to hanging around the elite, he hasn't spent enough time in the City yet. It's probably awful enough for him to wear someone else's stuff without having to rummage in it first. A black t-shirt and the most generic of V's collection of cargo pants should be inoffensive enough. Boots he's going to have to pick himself. And jacket — oh. Ohhhh. This is the best idea V has _ever_ had.

He turns towards Goro with a shit-eating grin and receives a suspicious look in return, and for once he fully deserves it. "Here," he pats the pile. "Try those. Can't help you with the boots, though."

Touching someone else's boots is less disgusting, looks like, because Goro just nods and reaches for the buttons of his shirt.

Annnd it's time for V to make a hasty one-eighty and walk a few steps away, for good measure. Everything is going too well right now to spoil it by popping a massive boner at the sight of Goro stripping — not that leaving things to imagination is much better, because between that neck and those hands, it's impossible not to try to picture what the rest of the man's body might look like. V doesn't have a chrome fetish. Really, he doesn't. It's just… Goro. Yeah.

Please let him be busy right now, and not looking in V's direction right as he adjusts himself.

"I do remember you wearing this… thing." Goro sounds mostly amused, which is honestly the best possible outcome in this situation. "What do you think?"

V takes a deep breath, counts to ten, and turns around.

There's… really no way to describe the feeling. It's too many things, all at once.

V's threads don't make Goro look goofy, for one thing. It's the other way round, somehow: they suddenly look a lot better when he wears them. Like everything he touches becomes badass by association. How the hell does he manage to look _intimidating_ while wearing that stupid retro jacket?

And on top of that there's the hot possessive twist in V's gut: Goro's wearing _his_ things. Even though it doesn't mean shit.

"Yeah. It's Johnny Silverhand's jacket, by the way," he says, doing his best to sound cool and collected and not dazed as fuck. "Well. A replica of."

"Hmm." Goro sticks his hands in his pockets and rolls his shoulders. "Tasteless, but not uncomfortable." He turns briefly, flashing the Samurai logo on his back. "And one has to appreciate the layers of irony."

_You let him wear my fucking jacket?_

For the first time V actually regrets, just for one childish moment, that Johnny's gone for good. "Suck it up, Johnny," he says anyway. His facial muscles are starting to cramp from all the grinning.

"It does seem he has been proven wrong after all," Goro agrees mildly. His half-smile has progressed to about three quarters. It makes the crow's feet in the corners of his eyes deeper.

V slams the trunk closed. They look at each other like conspirators about to pull off a heist, then Goro turns to look at the horizon. The one ahead of them, not behind. "Shall we?" he says, and it's probably V's wishful thinking, but he sounds… lighter. Maybe even hopeful. Although that's almost definitely wishful thinking.

But that's fine. Right now, V's got enough hope for them both.

And wouldn't it be something if Misty turned out to be right after all. The Chariot's ready. The Sun's not quite setting yet, but it'll get there soon.

As for the Lovers… This will do for now. 

  


**Author's Note:**

> Since we don't really know what happened to Hanako in the nomad ending, I assumed that Yorinobu learned of her plans and made his move first. Later, I learned that some players assume it was Alt's doing, but if that was the case, Yorinobu wouldn't be alive either.
> 
> In the end, everything is fair game, because the endings are not compatible with each other. The assumption that it was Yorinobu who killed Hanako (or did he? Is she even really dead?) makes it possible for Goro to forgive V's assault at the tower, so I'm sticking with it. :)
> 
> Side note: This V is based on my playthrough. Int/Tech/Cool, stealth, sniping and quickhacks. I made him much older than he's supposed to be in canon, too. Let's say he's ~thirty. The corporate life path doesn't make any sense otherwise.


End file.
